# Where are all the marine mammals? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 3, 2015, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-are-all-the-marine-mammals/714109 "2015-03-03T17:55:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2015, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-are-all-the-marine-mammals/714109/1 "2015-03-03T17:55:40Z")
I recently enjoyed a Caribbean cruise. I spent a fair amount of my time scanning the sea in search of a surfacing whale or dolphin. I saw nary a one. I have since learned that whales must surface for air at least every hour, dolphins at least every 15 minutes. With all my scanning, and the (relatively) large surface area I observed, why did I see nothing? You would think these creatures would be popping up all over the place. The best theory I have come up with is that the proximity of the ship spooks them into remaining submerged. I semi-doubt this, though, because on past cruises I have seen a few dolphins swimming along with the ship. Any thoughts? mmm ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2015, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-are-all-the-marine-mammals/714109/2 "2015-03-03T18:01:39Z")
The Caribbean (and the tropics in general) is not a good place for marine mammals. Marine mammals generally are found in places with lots of food for them, which means areas of high productivity. These tend to be places where upwelling brings nutrient-rich waters up from lower depths. These include Arctic and Antarctic waters and upwelling areas particularly on the western sides of continents like California and Chile. In Panama, marine mammals, especially whales, are easiest to see on the Pacific coast, which experiences upwelling during the dry season. Although there are dolphins on the Caribbean side they are much harder to see there. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Second\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@The\_Second\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Second_Stone)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2015, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-are-all-the-marine-mammals/714109/3 "2015-03-03T18:07:49Z")
The best place for marine mammal spotting is Pier 39 in San Francisco. Lots of sea lions basking in the sun. And good people food nearby. ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2015, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-are-all-the-marine-mammals/714109/4 "2015-03-03T18:12:51Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > The Caribbean (and the tropics in general) is not a good place for marine mammals. Marine mammals generally are found in places with lots of food for them, which means areas of high productivity The Caribbean seems to be a fun place for SCUBA diving because there’s so much marine life going on. Is all that life concentrated on just a few reefs near tropical islands, such that the open Caribbean waters are much more sterile (relative to the other places you mentioned)? ---
**Author:** ![Morgenstern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Morgenstern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgenstern)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2015, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-are-all-the-marine-mammals/714109/5 "2015-03-03T18:20:31Z")
I’m not surprised you didn’t see dolphins. Those sneaky little devils are fast and playful, unlike a whale. If you want to see whales, come to California during migration season when whales can be seen daily during their migration to and from Baja. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2015, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-are-all-the-marine-mammals/714109/6 "2015-03-03T18:22:07Z")
> [@Machine\_Elf](#): > > The Caribbean seems to be a fun place for SCUBA diving because there’s so much marine life going on. Is all that life concentrated on just a few reefs near tropical islands, such that the open Caribbean waters are much more sterile (relative to the other places you mentioned)? Counterintuitively, high-diversity coral reefs flourish mostly in areas of low productivity. Reef-building corals need clear water where light can penetrate in order for the symbiotic algae they depend on to provide them with food. In Panama, coral reefs are found mostly on the Caribbean coast. On the Pacific they are suppressed by cold-water upwelling during the dry season. (Reef corals prefer warm water.) It’s often the case that there is an inverse correlation between productivity and diversity. Regions of high productivity are dominated by just a few very numerous species, while areas of lower productivity have a large number of rarer species. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2015, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-are-all-the-marine-mammals/714109/7 "2015-03-03T18:28:07Z")
Here’s a [map of global oceanic productivity,](http://edweb.sdsu.edu/people/bdodge/scaffold/os/global.gif) with red being the most productive areas and blue-violet the least. The Caribbean is comparatively speaking a desert. ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2015, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-are-all-the-marine-mammals/714109/8 "2015-03-03T19:38:35Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > Here’s a [map of global oceanic productivity,](http://edweb.sdsu.edu/people/bdodge/scaffold/os/global.gif) with red being the most productive areas and blue-violet the least. The Caribbean is comparatively speaking a desert. Is “productivity” measured in something like biomass per unit volume? ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2015, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-are-all-the-marine-mammals/714109/9 "2015-03-03T19:42:01Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > Here’s a [map of global oceanic productivity,](http://edweb.sdsu.edu/people/bdodge/scaffold/os/global.gif) with red being the most productive areas and blue-violet the least. The Caribbean is comparatively speaking a desert. Interesting. But during the winter months, Hawaii is lousy with whales. And yet, it seems like an unproductive area. [What’s up with that?](http://stream1.gifsoup.com/view2/1448181/what-s-up-with-that-o.gif) ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2015, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-are-all-the-marine-mammals/714109/10 "2015-03-03T20:05:06Z")
> [@Machine\_Elf](#): > > Is “productivity” measured in something like biomass per unit volume? On that map, it’s milligrams of phytoplankton per cubic meter of sea water. > [@Ravenman](#): > > Interesting. But during the winter months, Hawaii is lousy with whales. And yet, it seems like an unproductive area. [What’s up with that?](http://stream1.gifsoup.com/view2/1448181/what-s-up-with-that-o.gif) Humpbacks migrate to warm water to give birth and to mate. They generally feed very little at this time. They live off fat accumulated in their feeding grounds in polar waters during the winter. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2015, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-are-all-the-marine-mammals/714109/11 "2015-03-03T20:13:01Z")
It seems productivity is driven by a mix of currents, temperature, and geography. Assuming global warming (GW) is real at least one, and maybe two, of those variables are about to shift significantly. Seeing that the more productive areas are colder, that would seem to imply that warming will be bad for total ocean productivity. The highly productive areas can’t shift too much more poleward than they already are, and the warming is expected to be relatively more concentrated in the polar regions to boot. Is this valid thinking? Are experts watching and worrying? ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2015, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-are-all-the-marine-mammals/714109/12 "2015-03-03T20:28:26Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > It seems productivity is driven by a mix of currents, temperature, and geography. > > Assuming global warming (GW) is real at least one, and maybe two, of those variables are about to shift significantly. > > Seeing that the more productive areas are colder, that would seem to imply that warming will be bad for total ocean productivity. The highly productive areas can’t shift too much more poleward than they already are, and the warming is expected to be relatively more concentrated in the polar regions to boot. > > Is this valid thinking? Are experts watching and worrying? A recent report suggests that [global warming may actually increase upwelling.](http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/02/150218093005.htm) However, it might be better to start a new thread on this given the tendency of global warming threads to become contentious. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2015, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-are-all-the-marine-mammals/714109/13 "2015-03-03T20:46:15Z")
My father-in-law lives on the Atlantic coast of Florida (just north of West Palm Beach). He used to have a big boat, and we’d go out on the Intercoastal Waterway in that area. It was very typical to see many dolphins surfacing during those little cruises. ---
**Author:** ![Digital\_is\_the\_new\_Analog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a88e4f/32.png) [@Digital\_is\_the\_new\_Analog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Digital_is_the_new_Analog)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2015, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-are-all-the-marine-mammals/714109/14 "2015-03-04T03:28:05Z")
> [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](#): > > The best theory I have come up with is that the proximity of the ship spooks them into remaining submerged. I semi-doubt this, though, because on past cruises I have seen a few dolphins swimming along with the ship. Since this part hasn’t really been commented on - I’ve seen dolphins jumping in the wake of a boat on a few occasions. They seem to be playing and having fun. I don’t think they stay away. That was on my Fiji trip. I haven’t been lucky enough to see dolphins here in S. Florida. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2015, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-are-all-the-marine-mammals/714109/15 "2015-03-04T03:44:15Z")
> [@Digital\_is\_the\_new\_Analog](#): > > Since this part hasn’t really been commented on - > I’ve seen dolphins jumping in the wake of a boat on a few occasions. They seem to be playing and having fun. I don’t think they stay away. Dolphins will often make a bee-line for a boat and follow it for miles playing in the wake. In general, they are not at all spooked by boats except where they have been harassed. Whales may be a bit spookier but often may be approached closely by small boats. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2015, 6:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-are-all-the-marine-mammals/714109/16 "2015-03-04T06:19:00Z")
Caribbean and Hawaiian waters are popular for scuba diving exactly _because_ they are unproductive deserts. That’s why the water is so crystal clear in those regions, which is of course a big attraction for divers. Highly productive waters, OTOH, tend to be murky, being full of, y’know, all that _product._